this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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It’s not the power outage that’s a problem.
The water isn’t necessarily clean as I explained.
Unless there is some kind of damage to the distribution or treatment system, clean water shouldn't be much of a problem.
Some issues that could cause water system failures during a flood include
Excessive sediments in the source water that the treatment facility cannot adequately remove. Even with this, coagulatants would probably fix these issues, but could reduce production.
Supply shortages of chlorine (very unlikely as most facilities keep a decent stockpile to buffer against shortages)
Damage to the distribution system, such as a broken pipe, where intrusions of ground water/sewer water could occur.
Damage to homes, businesses, or hydrants causing excessive flows and a lack of pressure in the system, some of which could be remedied shortly after flooding by isolating the worst of the leaks.
Damages to the water treatment plant itself, as they are often located fairly close to their source water, although this isn't always the case. Some are quite far from the shore, sometimes over a kilometer, and may have some elevation gain as well.
Definitely still a good idea to have a backup source of water but if your entire areas water is down for several days after a flood, it could indicate some design flaws or a lack of redundancy in the system.
I mean, we had water boil notices Ian and Milton, in an area with new plumbing and above the flood levels of those storms.
With power out everywhere, and iirc some ruptured pipes, my understanding is that they lost pressure in the system, so they couldn't guarantee the water was good.
And... I can't emphasize how widespread these events are. Like, entire forests are mowed down by wind for miles. Even with the flood of out-of-state contracters after a storm, it takes a bit for them to fix stuff.
Half the commenters here have clearly never lived a hurricane.
Any pipe rupture event will result in a boil water advisory unless that pipe is isolated and the system purged. It is always best to be cautious even if the water is testing fine. This is because that pressurized hole could get bigger at any moment and reduce pressure to the point intrusion could occur.